THE DRUM MICROPHONE / MICROPHONES THREAD

Re: Lookin for good quality drum mics! Help Please!

The previous poster probably as good advice as any - it will be very hard to get good microphones for $350. I just spent $200 just for my bass drum mic, and that was a pretty good buy...
 
Re: Lookin for good quality drum mics! Help Please!

You can record a drumkit in good quality with only a bass drum mic and two condenser mics. For example:

For the two condenser mics a good matched pair like a pair of MXL 603s: (these get the cymbals and the majority of the rest of the kit)
http://www.instrumentpro.co.uk/P-MXL603PAIR.html?PHPSESSID=352d6863ea79f794d73edaafa2771766

And a great kick mic is the shure beta 52A:
http://www.dv247.com/invt/3020?source=google&campaign=uk&ad=3020

And depending on what quality you want, you can buy an SM57 like the guy above said for the snare, individual tom mics are not really necessary for a good overall drum sound. Check out this thread at homerecording.com for mic placement technique, using this will mean you can use these mics to get a really good sound without spending loads.
 
drum mics

I dont know if this is the right place, but here is my question.
I just got into a band, and we havent played shows yet. This question is for people who play live in small club venues. Do the sound people help mic the kit? Because I know they provide the pa and mics, but I never used drum mics and I would want the best sound possible. I was just wondering how that kinda stuff is live. thanx
 
Re: drum mics

Im pretty sure there are already threads on this type of thing. Do a search under other gear and you should find stuff that will help you out.

Btw, i know nothing about mics. id help if i cud. Im also trying to learn about this stuff.
 
Re: drum mics

Really depends on the bar/club. I've come across quite a few where the sound man really didn't have a clue, as far as I was concerned, especially in smaller places. A lot of them do not want to deal with any drum that has more resonance than a cardboard box. In such a place, I would rather have them mic only the bass and snare.

The better clubs often have really good equipment and personel. It pays to learn all you can about mics, placement, gating and EQing, so if you play in a place with house sound, talk with the techs and pick their brains.
 
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Re: drum mics

Lots of small clubs I've played, the P.A. is so strapped for power all you wanna do is pump the vocals thru it. Let the drums and guitars and drums set their own volume levels. Better situations might give you kick and snare mics, maybe 2 overheads. All depends on the gig. Are you playing 3 or 4 sets (all night) or just 1 (1hour slot). If you're just playin' an hour, you need to get on the stage, fire it up, and get off. Your first song is the sound check. Always best to go to the club you're gonna be playin' a week before the gig, just to see what the situation is. Do they have a soundman, or does the bartender take care of that too? Do they have mics there? Does the mixer have all channels working? Oh man, after a while, you'll think you've seen everything, and then something new happens. It's all cool. Have fun.
 
C2 Condenser mics

Hi all,

Have seen these mics:

http://www.behringer.com/C-2/index.cfm?lang=ENG

And would like to get your input on them. They are very cheap here in the UK at only £40. I would imagine they will not be the highest quality but would they do as a couple of cheap overheads for self recording?


Any input is appreciated!
 
Re: C2 Condenser mics

*BUMP!*

Need some opinions guys as I will going to get them tomorrow after work if they are worth it :)
 
Re: C2 Condenser mics

In short: not sure. Behringer have some interesting marketing and production techniques. It basically consists of them taking everybody else's ideas and producing the same product for cheaper. This means they don't really have to have an R&D department.

In principle, I can't see anything actually wrong with those microphones per se. Usually Behringer produces a very good product for the money (for the reason stipulated above) so they should be ok. I've never had any personal experience with these microphones, however. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.
 
Re: C2 Condenser mics

Yeah I remember our conversation before I bought that 1832FX-PRO mixer and that is quality for the money I paid. Just worried as I tend to find cheaper mic's a bit "muddy" and that does not help for shimmering cymbals. I just thought I would maybe get these for the price they are...a bargain!
 
Re: C2 Condenser mics

I have a pair of those mics and a very similar mixer. They were such a vast improvement over what we were doing. I use just those 2 mics and a CAD 412 bass drum mike to do my whole set. I can post a sample of the setup if you want.
 
Re: C2 Condenser mics

That would be awesome! Please do!
 
Re: C2 Condenser mics

wow...they sound pretty good considering how cheap they are! I think a mic on the snare would have helped....just so its a bit more definate in the mix.

Cool tune too!

I will have these C2's, bass drum and snare miced so I'll post a drums only sample next week.


Thanks!
 
Re: C2 Condenser mics

The bass drum mic was a CAD KBM412. I got it for $50 american from musicians friend. The mixer is a Behringer UB-1202FX. This gets routed into a Lexicon Omega Desktop Recording Studio into CuBase basic or whatever the program was it came with. I've got a SM-57 for the snare, just seemed like I didn't need it with these anymore, but mabey I was wrong.

Upon further review, I'm glad I gave that song more cowbell.
 
Re: C2 Condenser mics

lol...."we GOTTA have more cowbell.."

I was just looking up that bass drum mic and the cheapest I could find it here was £60, about $110 I think. Where did you place the mics? Just over the kit in the normal fashion or pointing at the kit from the back?

I'll be running it through that mixer into a Fostex digital multitrack and then onto Cubase afterwards.
 
Re: C2 Condenser mics

The bass drum mic was about 8 or 10 inches from the batter head inside of the bass drum. The left condencer was a little left of the snare and about 2 stick lengths away from the head. The right condencer was about 2 stick lengths away from the snare head but about a foot and a half to the right. Both mics were aimed in the direction of the snare and slightly twords the bass drum batter head.

I probably used a little bit of studio reberb or compression off of the behringer mixer, I can't remember right now. The room really isn't that great to record in. Terrible acoustics. Thanks for the kind words.
 
Re: C2 Condenser mics

Cool stuff....i'll try that out on Tuesday.

Thanks for the pointers!
 
Mics?!?!?!?!?!?!

Hey all i was just wondering on what i should get 4 mics a mix board and how to set them up cuz i really dont get the concept like yeah i get that u hook the mics up 2 a mixing board but how do u get that into a comp and stuff like that
 
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